1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a Digital Video Recorder (DVR) such as a Personal Video Recorder (PVR), and more particularly to a method of setting a recording end reservation time for a program of interest when an instant recording function is selected in a DVR.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the distribution of digital broadcast has become wider, a Personal Video Recorder (PVR) or a Digital Video Recorder (DVR) has increasingly replaced the conventional Video Tape Recorder (VTR) in advanced digital set-top boxes.
FIG. 1 illustrates a configuration of an embodiment of an ordinary DVR.
Referring to FIG. 1, the DVR includes a digital broadcasting receiver 11 that receives a broadcast signal from the outside and demodulates the received broadcast signal into a video signal, a digital broadcasting processor 12 that receives, decodes and outputs the video signal from the digital broadcasting receiver 11, a broadcasting output unit 13 that outputs the decoded video signal through video and audio output devices, a user input unit 16 that receives control commands of the whole DVR, broadcasting selection information, etc. from a user, an On Screen Display (OSD) processor 15 that provides a screen for the setup of the DVR according to the selection of a user, and a controller 14 that receives the inputs of the user through the user input unit 16 and performs overall control on the DVR on the basis of the received inputs. Especially, in the case of receiving general broadcasting, the controller 14 receives channel selection information etc. through the user input unit, and changes a frequency of the digital broadcasting receiver to thereby change a channel.
When control operation is required, a required OSD window is received through the OSD processor 15, sent to the digital broadcast processor 12, and displayed to a user. Then, when any selection of the user is input through the user input unit 16, the control operation based on the selection is performed.
Meanwhile, when a recording function is selected during the control operation, a video signal is received from the digital broadcasting processor 12 and stored in a storage 17. Then, the controller looks up the stored video signals, selects any one of the video signals looked up, and outputs the selected video signal. Specifically, when a playback function is selected, the controller 14 enables the OSD window for looking up a list of the video signals stored in the storage 17 to be created by the OSD processor 15, and outputs the created OSD window through the digital broadcasting processor 12. Then, when the user selects any one from the video signals on the output OSD window, the controller extracts the selected video signal from the storage 17, and sends the extracted video signal to the digital broadcasting processor 12, thereby causing the sent video signal to be output.
Here, when an instant recording function for directly storing the digital broadcast that is being output at present is selected, the related operation will be described with reference to FIG. 2.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart of an embodiment of a method for performing instant recording in a conventional DVR.
Referring to FIG. 2, first, when a user selects an instant recording function during reception of digital broadcast at step 21, an OSD window for displaying recording end reservation times, which are preset invariable times, is created through the OSD processor, and then displayed at step 22.
Any one of the recording end reservation times displayed on the created OSD window is selected by the user at step 23.
The recording of the digital broadcast of interest is started, and whether or not the selected recording end reservation time has been reached is determined at step 25. If the selected recording end reservation time has been reached, the recording is terminated at step 26.
FIG. 3 illustrates an OSD window for displaying recording end reservation times, which are preset invariable times, provided when an instant recording function is selected in a conventional DVR.
Referring to FIG. 3, when a user wants to perform an instant recording function during reception of digital broadcast, an OSD window is displayed, by the digital broadcasting output device, asking how much time it will take to record a program of interest prior to the instant recording. Thus, the user selects any one of the preset recording end reservation times on the OSD window, thereby performing manual designation of recording for a given time.
At this time, the intervals of time are marked with “30 minutes, ” “one hour,” “two hours, ” and “Unlimited.”
When the instant recording function is performed based on this conventional art, the recording end reservation time is set to the invariable time such as “30 minutes,” “one hour, ” or “two hours,” in the case that the user does not know the ending time of the digital broadcast program that is being received at present. Hence, in most cases, the set time is not accurately matched with a real time the program is terminated. If the set time falls short of the real time, the end part of the program is not recorded, so that the user does not obtain the desired effect of recording the entire program. In contrast, if the set time exceeds the real time, the undesired programs or parts thereof, are recorded, so that storage space for the recording is wasted. Further, when the recording end reservation time is set to “Unlimited,” the user is inconvenienced by having to terminate the recording after he/she waits until the broadcast program of interest is finished.